Our unexpected journey began in June 2012,when we started our search for an alternative way of educating our eldest child, who was until then in a traditional school setting. Home education was a daunting idea, one we had never heard of until then.The task of educating ourselves about the how, who, when and why of Home education, remains a continuous effort and the most useful source of information for us, has always been, reading about the experience of families who have chosen a similar path. We are now setting out to charter and share our journey , the daily happenings in our home, the resources we have found useful, the philosophies we have adapted, the struggles we have overcome and are still working through, and in doing so, we hope that those who stumble upon our page, will find it a helpful read.
We are in the suburbs of South West London and the Surrey borders, bringing up a super curious 7 year old boy and a delightful 3 year old girl. We have taken on the task of educating them outside of school, after Mr Curious taught us, that school, is not where he needed to be, in order to work to the best of his abilities. Mr Curious needed a setting where his strengths would be celebrated and his weaknesses supported, where he would be accepted as a unique individual who is capable of extraordinary feats if given the right opportunities, where his quirkiness, would be viewed as interesting character traits, instead of being viewed as bizarre and where his struggles, would be understood and assistance provided. Mr Curious needed provisions for constant mental nourishment and challenges, without which, he is incapable of functioning. He required a tailor made education, where learning became his life and not a separate area, where there would be some control over what he chose to investigate and where he is given exposure to varying experiences that hold value in his eyes. Mr Curious has since, flourished emotionally, gained enormously in confidence and become more independent in his undertakings, be it academic or otherwise.
We had great faith in the education system, when our son set foot in his local primary school for the first time.We had big dreams about his academic future and believed that school is THE PLACE to get educated, but instead,we discovered that our son was frustrated by the whole structure of schooling and his needs were not being met appropriately.Thus, we learnt to have faith in ourselves and trust in the capabilities of our children. We still have great hopes for the future of our children, but we now understand that learning is not confined to the four walls of school buildings and Home Education is a credible alternative path to schooling.
We had great faith in the education system, when our son set foot in his local primary school for the first time.We had big dreams about his academic future and believed that school is THE PLACE to get educated, but instead,we discovered that our son was frustrated by the whole structure of schooling and his needs were not being met appropriately.Thus, we learnt to have faith in ourselves and trust in the capabilities of our children. We still have great hopes for the future of our children, but we now understand that learning is not confined to the four walls of school buildings and Home Education is a credible alternative path to schooling.
To take the best bits of educational philosophies, teaching methods and life opportunities and mold them to fit our requirement, the needs, interests and passions of our children.
We now have the wisdom, of doing what works for our son, what works for our family and what works for our daughter, but we remain open to the possibility, that our children will one day want or need to attend an educational institution.
